Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles ripped his team’s performance in a Week 15 loss to the Falcons as inexcusable and said late in the week that he thought the team got the message about what needed to change heading into Sunday’s game against the Panthers.
The message may have been received, but the result wasn’t any better. The Bucs gave up a lead with seven seconds to play in the first half when Panthers quarterback Bryce Young beat a blitz by throwing to wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who had gotten behind cornerback Jamel Dean and into the end zone. The Bucs took the lead back in the third quarter, but Young evaded pass rushers to find tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders for another score and the Panthers wound up taking a 23-20 lead with 2:20 left to play.
The Bucs’ chances of coming back evaporated when quarterback Baker Mayfield and wide receiver Mike Evans failed to get on the same page on a pass that Panthers safety Lathan Ransom picked off to seal the win. The Bucs also committed eight penalties en route to their sixth loss in seven games, which fit with the theme of self-inflicted wounds that Bowles focused on after the game.
“The biggest thing is our confidence is good, camaraderie is good and that’s high but that’s not enough right now,” Bowles said, via the team’s website. “It’s the execution that we’re lacking and missing a few things here or there. We shot ourselves in the foot enough today to lose this ballgame by three. And we understand that . . . we definitely understand that. We’ve got to take it one day at a time and, again, I think the guys are accountable, the coaches are accountable. We’re going to load up, we’re going to come back Monday and hopefully in two weeks we get a chance to see them again and play for something.”
The Bucs face the Dolphins next week while the Panthers square off with the Seahawks, so the odds would favor the Bucs still having a chance to win the NFC South in the final game of the regular season. Outside confidence that they can do anything with that opportunity will likely be hard to come by given how many variations on Sunday’s postgame comments Bowles has made over the second half of the season, however.
The Panthers took a step toward making the playoffs for the first time since 2017 by beating the Buccaneers 23-20 on Sunday, but the focus in the locker room after the game was on the steps they still need to take.
A win over the Seahawks at home in Week 17 is not enough to clinch the NFC South by itself. If the Buccaneers win in Miami, the Panthers’ playoff hopes will come down to their Week 18 game in Tampa and that’s why quarterback Bryce Young wants the team to keep its celebration brief before they turn their attention back to the task at hand.
“Yeah, it feels great, and it’ll feel great for the next 24 hours,” Young said, via the team’s website. “After that, it’s not going to matter. This is what, Week 16? That’s not when the playoffs start. So there’s still a lot more work to be done. There’s still a lot more football to be played. Again, 24-hour rule, we’ll celebrate this one, but we know that we have to refocus.”
The biggest reason why the Panthers have not put the division away already is because they have not won consecutive games since a three-game win streak moved them to 4-3 in October. That’s kept the Bucs alive while they’ve lost six of their last seven games and this would be an ideal time for the Panthers to show the kind of consistency that has eluded them over the last couple of months.
The Panthers control their destiny in the NFC South.
Safety Lathan Ransom made up for a costly penalty in Week 15 by picking Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield off with 42 seconds left to play in Sunday’s game. The pick sealed a 23-20 win for the Panthers and gave them a leg up on the Bucs in the divisional race heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.
The Panthers will host the Seahawks next Sunday while the Bucs take on the Dolphins, so the odds will be against Carolina slamming the door on the Bucs before the two teams renew acquaintances in Week 18. This is now seven wins for the Panthers as an underdog, however, and counting them out seems unwise given how shaky the Bucs have been while losing six of their last seven games.
Bryce Young was instrumental to Sunday’s win. The Panthers quarterback threw a pair of touchdowns and did not turn the ball over while also running four times for 20 yards. His biggest completion was a 34-yard strike to wide receiver Jalen Coker to set up Ryan FitzPatrick’s go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter and he also showed impressive agility in avoiding coverage on a touchdown pass to tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders earlier in the second half.
First-round wideout Tetairoa McMillan had the other touchdown and moved closer to 1,000 yards on the season with six catches for 73 yards.
The Bucs had an edge in time of possession and offensive plays, but they were hampered by eight penalties and leaky protection that kept Mayfield under pressure for much of the afternoon. That only resulted in two sacks, but the Bucs were not able to make much happen through the air over the course of another disappointing afternoon.
Given the depths of their slide, it’s hard to feel overly confident about their chances of winning either of their remaining games. If they don’t, there will likely be questions about whether it is time for bigger changes in Tampa before the 2026 season gets underway.
The Buccaneers moved back into the lead on their first possession of the third quarter, but they weren’t on top for long.
Bryce Young wriggled away from pressure on a third down and stayed alive long enough to flip a six-yard pass to a wide-open Ja’Tavion Sanders in the end zone. The tight end’s score made it 20-17 with eight seconds to play in the third quarter.
It wasn’t the only time that Young used his legs on the drive. He had three runs for 21 yards to go with a pair of passes to rookie wideout Tetairoa McMillan as the Panthers moved 65 yards in 11 plays.
The Bucs will have to answer or the Panthers will move into Week 17 with the inside track on the division title in the NFC South.
The Buccaneers scored a touchdown on their first offensive possession of Sunday’s game against the Panthers and they’re back in the lead after doing the same to start the second half.
Running back Sean Tucker scored from a yard out and the Buccaneers now lead 17-13 with 6:41 to play in the third quarter.
The Bucs tried a pair of passes to wide receiver Mike Evans from the 1-yard line and Evans drew a pass interference flag on the second one to give them a fresh set of downs. Tucker’s score capped a 14-play, 66-yard drive that saw Baker Mayfield pick up a key first down with a 23-yard scramble against a Carolina blitz.
The Bucs have ruled edge rusher Anthony Nelson out with a knee injury, so the rest of the defense will have to make the lead stand up if the Bucs are going to end the day in first place in the NFC South.
